It Runs In the Family...

Graduation.Nephew M won his grade Word Master competition--similar to spelling bee, except the student has to show knowledge of the word. What are the chances that two cousins would dominate the competition??? Roxie won, too, same school, but in grade younger. Her words, "He gets it from his mom, and I get it from Dad, since they are sister and brother!" Notice the medal he is holding? Roxie got one, too.
Suzu wanted to make sure she got a strong A in chemistry, so she did this crazy project, and involved the whole family in the gathering of household items for this experiment, using red cabbage as the indicator:
BEAUTIFUL colors! Did you know foods tend to be more acidic, cleaning products more basic? She even gave us a written test afterwards and took pictures for her teacher, per his request.
John in his OFFICE with a window--looking out at the solar panels that run all the power for the building plus puts leftovers back into the grid. Very cool turtles in tanks, including one with no tail...Nice workmates. Cool boss. Good atmosphere. Security. Benefits! Needs a quilt on his big wall--coming soon to blogger.
I took the train down to see where he works, and then we drove down to the temple together. It was raining when we came outside.

Cool clouds in the sky and raindrops dripping on my shirt.

Ask John about my calling his voice mail when I was angry at him. Sitting next to him in the car. "Pick up. John Landbeck..." He was glad he didn't say anything, since it took him a minute to figure out I was NOT calling him. I was ordering our crabcakes to go 20 minutes before we would pass Riverside-BEST crabcakes-Pizzaria.

"...and so are YOU!"

I love this video!

Quilt-RRRRRRR T-shirt

Coolest idea for sibling gifts--or FATHER'S DAY T-shirts with good directions if you follow the link. You can use vinyl letters-stickers if you are spelling out words. I used contact paper (wood grained, stuff I had around the house).

Vinegar rinse will also stop the bleaching-- After you sponge on the bleach, rinse in cold water and stick in big bowl of water with 2 cups of white vinegar to stop the bleaching, then stick in washing machine and immediately wash This was a wedding gift. Since the fabric didn't bleach well, I used the contact paper backing and repositioned the letters and used white "So-soft" fabric paint and brushed around the letters. Turned out okay enough to give away and the bride & groom loved them.
You do have to make sure the t-shirt, pillowcase is bleachable. Some fabrics are bleach-proof. Test before you go to the work. Sorry no picture of end product-camera batteries unavailable, but trust me, it turned out great.

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Project I've wanted to do for awhile: bleached out T-shirts. I had seen the idea on the blog link above and suggested the Young Women do it for their camp t-shirts. Cheaper than buying lots of fabric paints!
Think negative space--the exposed areas are going to turn white/pink and the area you protect will stay the same color as original t-shirt.

I've wanted a quilter-pirate t-shirt for awhile. Those are scissors instead of crossed bones at the bottom. This could be my new favorite t-shirt. $5.00 nice dark cobalt one found at walmart. Dark fabrics turn amazing colors with bleach!

Elder L

(photo credit: Deb Koehler the day he was dropped off at the MTC)
He flies to the mission field today. He is doing well. His letters are upbeat, cheerful, hardworking. He types better than he hand writes. MAKE YOUR BOYS PRACTICE PENMANSHIP!

It's Called a "Rabat" Design

John came home and said, "This is a new phase." He thought it looked black. I had actually considered black paint, but only had a quart for mural work. Not enough. This hallway takes a whole gallon of paint, not counting ceiling. This is a pattern called "Rabat." And it looks better in the opposite color way of light grid on top of dark background...This looks too much like dragon or snake scales, and only lasted 2 days before I painted over it.
I cut my own stencil from cardboard from the back of a calendar...
Painted over the light lemon hallway with a yellow-green.

Then painted over the silver stencilling. It wasn't quite right. I am considering plaid (the Davidson Clan has a nice dark green background with blue, black, and red.)

Or, I could freehand giant flowers like Martha Stewart magazine this month. I had thought about painting hounds tooth design. More damask? Or...? I can't really decide. I feel like I am having a decorating dilemma. I don't know who I am. What do I want to be? What do I want people to feel/think when they walk in the front door? Or maybe I just want change and control over something? The hallway has a rough texture, so straight lines are hard.

And I really enjoy the process of painting. It is relaxing. Soothing. Comforting.

Seminary Graduation 2011

Max's Night